Three suspects were arrested last week and charged in connection with an embezzlement scheme in which they allegedly created fake employees through a third-party temp agency and falsified timesheets for a total of $257,086, the Loudoun County, Virginia, Sheriff’s Office announced this week.

An investigation by detectives with the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office Financial Crimes Unit found that two former employees of Purcellville, Virginia-based electrical work provider Beckstrom Electric and the owner of both R Gonzales Sheet Metal LLC and third-party temp agency “3RG and Systems LLC” conspired to create fake employees and charge wages through falsified timesheets to Beckstrom Electric. The alleged embezzlement took place from Dec. 2020 until May 2022, when representatives from Beckstrom Electric discovered the irregularities.

The investigation also found that the three suspects stole scrap copper from job sites and sold it to local scrap metal dealers for a total of $46,823, according to the sheriff’s office. 

Manassas resident Raul Gonzales Ascencio, owner of R. Gonzalez Sheet Metal and 3RG Systems, hatched the plot, the Loudoun Times-Mirror reported. He allegedly enlisted Leesburg, Virginia, residents and Beckstrom employees Franciso Antonio Aguilar Paz and his brother Jose Alfonso Aguilar Paz to charge wages to Beckstrom for the fake employees via timesheets.

The three men face several charges, including felony embezzlement and felony conspiracy to commit larceny.